Israel's president tasks opposition leader Eisenkot with forming government

Fonte da imagem: Reuters. Por Nathan Williams. Atualizado há 1 hora. O presidente de Israel diz que encarregará o líder da oposição Gadi Eisenkot de formar um novo governo de coalizão.

• Published7 November 2026, 21:51 GMT.
• Israel's president begins consultations with parties after election deadlockPublished3 days ago.

Isaac Herzog tem mantido conversas com partidos políticos depois que nem o bloco de Eisenkot nem o do Primeiro‑Ministro Benjamin Netanyahu conseguiram garantir maioria no parlamento de Israel, conhecido como Knesset, após a eleição da semana passada.

Eisenkot will now have 28 days to try to form a new administration, with a potential 14-day extension.

Now is the time to form a national emergency government. I will do everything to ensure we are worthy," the former military chief wrote on X.

No political party in Israel has ever won an outright majority, meaning all governments have been coalitions.

Netanyahu's right-wing Likud party and its far-right and ultra-Orthodox Jewish allies won 53 seats in the 120-seat Knesset, while Eisenkot's centrist Yashar party and three other Jewish opposition parties in his bloc won 48.

Duas alianças lideradas por árabes, a Lista Árabe Unida e a Lista Conjunta, juntas venceram um número sem precedentes de 19 assentos após um aumento na participação entre eleitores árabes.

That positions them as potential kingmakers. However, all but one of the Jewish parties pledged before the polls not to work with them to form a government.

Herzog said that, after consulting all parties during the week, he would give Eisenkot the first chance to form a government.

Um comunicado do gabinete do presidente afirmou que ele havia informado tanto Eisenkot quanto Netanyahu sobre a decisão.

Following consultations with delegations from the incoming Knesset members, Eisenkot received 67 recommendations for the premiership and Netanyahu 46, the statement said.

O presidente tem ampla discricionariedade para escolher alguém que ele acredite ter a melhor chance de construir uma coalizão e não precisa escolher o líder do partido com mais assentos.

The election results had implied three possible options for the formation of a government: a national unity administration involving both Netanyahu and Eisenkot, a right-wing coalition involving Netanyahu and defectors from Eisenkot's bloc, or an Eisenkot-led government supported by the Arab parties.

Eisenkot and every member of his bloc bar one has previously refused to enter government with Arab parties, but there has been speculation that an agreement could be reached.

Ele também poderia tentar chegar a um acordo com partidos ultraortodoxos, mas isso também seria difícil.

There is precedent for a unity government. In 2020, following three deadlocked elections, Netanyahu and his centrist rival Benny Gantz agreed a power-sharing deal in which the leadership rotated between the two.

During his consultations with the parties, Herzog had said that to prevent another round of elections and to build a stable government, he expected "factions and their representatives to understand that, in the current reality, not every commitment and promise can be fulfilled.

In the period 2019 to 2022, one of the most politically fractured in Israeli politics, there were five separate elections as Netanyahu and his rivals struggled time and again to co-operate.

How could Israel break election deadlock? Here are four scenarios.